Cylinder liner with coolant sleeve

Abstract

Cylinder liners of internal combustion engines must be adequately cooled to obviate oil degradation, carbon packing in the ring area, and piston seizure. The engine includes a block which cooperates with the cylinder liners to define an upper and lower axially spaced coolant chambers. A sleeve is located in a groove defined in the cylinder liner and disposed between the upper and lower coolant chambers. The sleeve and the cylinder liner define a plurality of circumferentially spaced venturi throats. The venturi throats provide a relative long flow path and controls the flow rate of the coolant being communicated from the lower coolant chamber to the upper coolant chamber in order to dissipate heat away from the cylinder liner.

I claim: 
     
       1. An internal combustion engine comprising: a block defining a cylinder bore, an upper annular recess, and a lower annular recess;   a cylinder liner having a central axis located in the cylinder bore and cooperating with the upper and lower annular recesses to define upper and lower, axially spaced, annular coolant chambers; and   a sleeve being disposed between the upper and lower coolant chambers, extending into the upper coolant chamber, and surrounding the cylinder liner, the sleeve and the cylinder liner defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced venturi throats adapted to communicating the lower coolant chamber with the upper coolant chamber.   
     
     
       2. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the venturi throats are disposed obliquely with respect to the central axis of the cylinder liner. 
     
     
       3. The internal combustion engine of claim 2 wherein the block includes an upper mounting surface, the upper annular recess having a preselected axial length B and the upper annular recess communicating with the cylinder bore to define a top block land that extends downward from the upper mounting surface a preselected axial length A, an intermediate shelf. 
     
     
       4. The internal combustion engine of claim 3 wherein the cylinder liner comprises an outer peripheral surface and a liner groove having a preselected width G is defined in the outer peripheral surface and the sleeve is disposed in the liner groove. 
     
     
       5. The internal combustion engine of claim 4 wherein the liner groove is located generally adjacent the upper annular recess and the shelf of the block. 
     
     
       6. The internal combustion engine of claim 5 wherein the preselected width G of the liner groove is greater than the combined preselected axial width B of the upper annular recess and the preselected length C of the shelf. 
     
     
       7. The internal combustion engine of claim 6 wherein the liner groove has an upper annular shoulder that is generally perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder liner, a bottom peripheral surface, and a lower annular arcuate shoulder. 
     
     
       8. The internal combustion engine of claim 7 wherein the lower arcuate shoulder is located below the shelf and the upper annular shoulder is located a preselected axial distance from the upper mounting surface that is equal to or less than the preselected axial length A of the top land. 
     
     
       9. The internal combustion engine of claim 8 wherein the sleeve includes a pair of parallel first and second end walls defining a preselected width W, a pair of generally parallel inner and outer peripheral surfaces, and a plurality of generally parallel oblique vanes extending generally radially from the inner surface, the oblique vanes each have a pair of generally parallel side walls, a pair of first and second vane end walls, and a concave inner surface, the inner surface conforms generally to the bottom surface of the liner groove and seated thereon. 
     
     
       10. The internal combustion engine of claim 9 wherein there are sixteen equally spaced oblique vanes and each oblique vane being disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the central axis of the cylinder bore. 
     
     
       11. The internal combustion engine of claim 9 wherein the oblique vanes are spaced on the inner surface so as to not circumferentially overlap one another. 
     
     
       12. The internal combustion engine of claim 9 wherein the oblique vanes extends axially outwardly past the first sleeve end wall a preselected distance, with the first vane end walls being in contact with the annular shoulder of the liner groove, and the first vane end walls forms a stop surface limiting upward movement of the sleeve, the cooling vanes cooperate with the first sleeve end wall to define a plurality of radially extending grooves. 
     
     
       13. The internal combustion engine of claim 12 wherein each venturi throat includes the inner surface of the sleeve, the sidewalls of the cooling vanes, and the upper annular shoulder and the bottom surface of the cylinder liner groove. 
     
     
       14. The internal combustion engine of claim 9 wherein the sleeve is constructed from polyether etherketone. 
     
     
       15. The internal combustion engine of claim 9 wherein at least one annular sleeve ring groove is defined in the outer peripheral surface and at least one elastomeric ring is received in the at least one annular sleeve ring grooved for retention of the sleeve in the liner groove. 
     
     
       16. The internal combustion engine of claim 15 wherein the elastomeric ring sealing engages the shelf. 
     
     
       17. The internal combustion engine of claim 9 wherein the sleeve is constructed from polyether sulfone. 
     
     
       18. The internal combustion engine of claim 1 wherein the sleeve is cast integral with the cylinder liner. 
     
     
       19. The internal combustion engine of claim 18 wherein the sleeve includes a pair of parallel first and second end walls defining a preselected width W', a pair of generally parallel inner and outer peripheral surfaces, and a plurality of generally parallel oblique vanes extending between the inner surface of the sleeve and the bottom surface of the liner groove, each of the oblique vanes having a pair of generally parallel side walls. 
     
     
       20. The internal combustion engine of claim 19 wherein there are sixteen equally spaced oblique vanes and each oblique vane being disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the central axis of the cylinder bore. 
     
     
       21. The internal combustion engine of claim 19 wherein the oblique vanes are spaced on the inner surface so as to not circumferentially overlap one another. 
     
     
       22. The internal combustion engine of claim 19 wherein each venturi throat includes the inner surface of the sleeve, the sidewalls of the cooling vanes, and the bottom surface of the cylinder liner groove. 
     
     
       23. A cylinder liner having a central axis adapted for use in an internal combustion engine, wherein the improvement comprises: the cylinder liner having an outer peripheral surface and a liner groove defined in the outer peripheral surface; and   a sleeve being disposed in the liner groove and surrounding the cylinder liner, the sleeve and the cylinder liner defining a plurality of circumferentially spaced elongated venturi throats disposed between the sleeve and the liner groove.   
     
     
       24. A cylinder liner of claim 23 wherein the venturi throats are disposed obliquely with respect to the central axis of the cylinder liner. 
     
     
       25. The cylinder liner of claim 23 wherein the liner groove has an upper annular shoulder that is generally perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface, a bottom peripheral surface, and a lower annular arcuate shoulder. 
     
     
       26. The cylinder liner of claim 25 wherein the sleeve includes a pair of parallel first and second end walls, a pair of generally parallel inner and outer peripheral surfaces, and a plurality of generally parallel oblique vanes extending generally radially from the inner surface, the oblique vanes have a pair of generally parallel side walls, a pair of first and second vane end walls, and a concave inner surface, the inner surface conforms generally to the bottom surface of the liner groove and seated thereon. 
     
     
       27. The cylinder liner of claim 26 wherein there are sixteen equally spaced oblique vanes and each oblique vane being disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the axial centerline of the cylinder bore. 
     
     
       28. The cylinder liner of claim 25 wherein the oblique vanes are spaced on the inner surface so as to not circumferentially overlap one another. 
     
     
       29. The cylinder liner of claim 25 wherein at least one annular sleeve ring groove is defined in the outer peripheral surface and at least one elastomeric ring is received in the at least one annular sleeve ring groove for retention of the sleeve in the liner groove. 
     
     
       30. The cylinder liner of claim 25 wherein venturi throat includes the inner surface of the sleeve, the sidewalls of the oblique vanes, and the upper annular shoulder and the bottom surface of the cylinder liner groove. 
     
     
       31. The cylinder liner of claim 30 wherein the sleeve includes a pair of parallel first and second end walls defining a preselected width W', a pair of generally parallel inner and outer peripheral surfaces, and a plurality of generally parallel oblique vanes extending between the inner surface of the sleeve and the bottom surface of the liner groove, the oblique vanes having a pair of generally parallel side walls. 
     
     
       32. The cylinder liner of claim 23 wherein the sleeve is constructed from polyether sulfone. 
     
     
       33. The cylinder liner of claim 23 wherein the sleeve is constructed from Polyether etherketone. 
     
     
       34. The cylinder liner of claim 23 wherein the sleeve is cast integral with the cylinder liner. 
     
     
       35. The cylinder liner of claim 34 wherein each venturi throat includes the inner surface of the sleeve, the sidewalls of the oblique vanes, and the bottom surface of the cylinder liner groove.